Blood of the Fox

Chapter 20

The Third Prince tapped his finger lightly against his table. "That man that came out of your amulet... do you know who it was?"

Ruyi recalled the fearsome man with the red hair. "No..."

"I'm not sure either but I suspect it was the Fox King Hanyi."

The Fox King! "Are you sure, your Highness? What makes you think that?"

"The way he fought and the greatsword he carried. It had the same insignia as yours, or did you not notice?"

Ruyi's hand wandered to her belt. The Fox King's knife, that's what Rongling had told her. "Why would he be in the amulet my mother gave me?"

"Perhaps that's a question you ought to ask your mother. But it was not him exactly but a shadow of him."

"Like... the shadow of Lingxi?"

"... yes."

Ruyi looked up. Yuezhen's face was still resting in his hand. He wasn't looking at her but was instead looking sideways through a round window which cast light onto his desk, leaving his face half in shadow.

"And what is that, exactly?"

"Humans often worship us as though we are one and the same, but do you know the difference between a God and an immortal?"

"The Gods like Nuwa and Pangu?" Ruyi tried to wrap her head around the abrupt change in subject matter. What's with this guy? "When an immortal has reached the such a high stage of cultivation... or completed some great undertaking... the Endless Heavens will shine upon them and they will become a God. But it doesn't happen often."

"It happens more than you think..."

"Huh?"

"There isn't always light and fanfare and an announcement to the mortal world. Sometimes people just.. Ascend. I think it happened to the Fox King. A thousand demons he killed with his bare hands during the Demon War. And the Elder Emperor called for him, personally, from the Endless Heavens."

"How do you know this?"

"I saw it... at least I think I did. I went to the Panlin Forest but by the time I got there it was too late. I saw a face in the sky... a face that looked a little bit like mine. I heard him call the Fox King's name and afterwards, I found out that he died."

Ruyi digested this silently for a few moments. "What does this have to do with my amulet?"

"When a high immortal is very powerful, he or she can create clones of themselves, called shadows. They have some of the power of the original and even some of their memories."

Some of their memories...

"There are other ways to create Shadows of course, but the one sealed in the amulet was probably created by him like in that manner, specifically to be given to protect someone."

Ruyi thought back, to when the shadow had called her by her mother's name. Recently I have begun to look older and more like mother... But what did that mean? Did the Fox King and her mother know each other? No it's not possible. That high immortal, one step away from becoming a God, and her mother whose only demonstration of power was lighting candles in the dark? It couldn't be fathomed.

She looked at Yuezhen, at the way his long phoenix eyes were lowered, as though he was thinking deeply about something. He was so beautiful her breathing shallowed and she had to look away.

Why are you telling me this? She thought and looked down at the book in her hands. Why did you give me this? If it was purely to train her in martial arts, then surely a general book would have sufficed. What are you thinking?

But she knew she wasn't going to get any answers out of him. Instinctively she knew it wasn't the right time. Anyway learning this should only help me... I think. He probably isn't trying to hurt me.

Although she held him in her heart, she did not switch off her brain.

She was a fox after all.

***

For the next few months she practiced martial arts and magic non stop, following the instructions in the Fox Arts step by step. Expecting to find it difficult, she was surprised when the movements and power came to her easily. Perhaps it was due to her formidable neili and her time in the Tower of Punishment.

Since it was a basic manual most of it was very simple things. Basic thrusting and parrying, the kind any foot soldier in the Panlin Realm would have expected to know. In terms of magic, it contained spells such as helping plants in the forest grow, making nutritious meals from herbs, etc. etc. These were probably things that children in the Panlin Realm learnt as their first spells. Perhaps Yunyang had kept it with her to show a child she might have one day. Although that was never to be, since she died childless in the Demon Realm.

Ruyi was not exactly of the temperament of a saint, so very early on she had flipped to the very end to examine last few pages. In terms of martial arts there was nothing extraordinary but the last few spells caught her attention. Summoning fire, one read. The one after that was more thought provoking still: The art of fox seduction.

That had made her pause and gaze for a long time. A thought popped into her head: had the third prince read the manual? It seemed very likely. Despite his lackadaisical attitude, she had come to realize he was a cautious person underneath it all. No doubt he'd checked its contents before giving it to her.

Thinking about it a blush rose to her cheeks. Dao, who came in, said suddenly, "What are you thinking about it?"

Ruyi started. "What are you doing here?!"

"It's the courtyard of the house I manage, am I not allowed to be here?" Dao puffed out his chest as though he was upset. Ruyi said awkwardly, "Master Dao, I'm sorry, you surprised me that's all."

Dao huffed to himself and then glanced at Ruyi sidelong. At first he had been thinking it was quite strange that the Third Prince had suddenly brought a girl home, even if she had saved his life if the stories were to be believed. Still what really opened his eyes was how his Master had not hesitated to offend the Princess Yuting for her. He had never exactly been cordial to the Princess - and had always firmly rejected to her overtures of romance - but to humiliate her so publically, that was a whole different level.

After all she's a Princess and this one is just a servant... Dao sighed. He wasn't a materialistic person but even to a dispassionate observer, the difference was between heaven and earth. But now that I look at her more closely, she is a pretty little thing isn't she? And she is a fox after all...

Also there was the odd way that Junye treated her. Everyone knew that the guard was always in the shadows watching over the Third Prince, in this world it could be said there wasn't anyone who knew him better. Perhaps Junye knew something that Dao didn't? Perhaps he also ought to be a bit more polite to the little fox girl.

Out loud, he cleared his throat. "There's two letters come from the Palace for you."